Long Live the Queen
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: Valtor is winning the war - with or without her. Now the choice is hers - wear his crown or wear the noose? Canon Divergence post Sparx's fall.


**A/N: This is totally not what I set out to work on today. But alas here we are. I blame everything on Halsey's "Young God".**

"I'm the king and you're the queen," Valtor said as he held out the golden crown to her. It was the color of fire and she was sure it would burn her if she took it. And it was blinding her with the light it reflected from the throne room of Sparx. "You've always been," he added when she made no move to accept it and only stared him down with a frown on her face. She wasn't sure what his intentions were with that charade. She'd made her stance on the matter clear enough.

"And what if I don't want it?" she asked as she folded her arms in front of her to put a more physical barrier between the two of them as words didn't seem to get through to him. The thought of being associated with him, with his manic ideas, with the bloodshed and carnage he was raining upon the universe made her sick to her stomach. So she tried to keep him as far away as her heart would allow.

"You can relocate to your assigned cell," he said as he pulled his hand back a little as if he was getting tired from her stubbornness when in reality it was the rejection that repulsed him. He wouldn't even let her deny his proposal. He'd pull the crown out of her reach before she could grab it from him and throw it away. Though he'd outdone himself by offering it to her in the first place. She'd thought he'd execute her on the spot when she'd stood up to him instead of taking his side. Instead, there he was, offering her his kingdom and his own hand in marriage. But she couldn't take either. She couldn't bind herself to him when he was bound to murdering everyone in his path. And their location just kept reminding her of that.

"Preferable to being complacent in the destruction of entire planets." Sparx had fallen. King Oritel and Queen Marion had banished the Ancestral Witches but Valtor had killed them, taking over their kingdom. More planets would follow. She'd rather have her own blood spilled than stain her hands in red and sit on a throne of death. Her life would end anyway if she took the golden lie in his hands. She'd no longer recognize herself in the mirror if she traded herself for a cold piece of metal. It was much better to die in the flames of his anger since she hadn't left on time to join the battle. Her heart had held her back from leaving him. And her mind was holding her back from marrying him. And when the battle between the two ended, she would lose regardless of the result.

"My queen has equal say in the ruling of our kingdom," he said, carefully choosing his words as he offered her the crown again, waving it in front of her face like a dog treat, trying to tempt her mind into surrendering. It was too generous of him. To offer her everything she wanted. Still, her heart pulled her to him with the force of gravity. "We're equals. Partners. We always have been," he sensed her inner battle and baited her further with the truth. They'd been partners, equally subordinate to the Ancestral Witches. Though, things were different now that the Mistresses were gone. "Now that we're at the top of the food chain, we can build our kingdom in our image," he said as if reading her mind, or they were simply thinking the same. What a change that would be. Trading three witches for a demon with yet another witch at his side. With the voice of reason at his side. It certainly was a better image than having him wreak havoc on his own while her blood soaked up the burned ground.

Griffin took a step closer and he crossed the rest of the distance, laying the crown on her head before she could change her mind. It didn't burn her. But it was heavy. So heavy she could barely keep her head up and not let it slip and fall, shattering against the cold floor. It threatened to break her neck but she would do well to get used to the weight. The fate of the universe was on her shoulders now that Valtor's crown was on her head.

"Long live the queen," he said as he pulled her closer and even her crossed arms between their bodies couldn't keep her safe from the burn of his kiss. It carried the fire of love and mistakes in it and she didn't know how long she could survive swallowed up in the flames.

She wrapped an arm around his neck while holding the crown in place with her other hand. Balancing both her responsibilities and her love for him was already taking its toll on her if the strain in her body was any indication.


End file.
